"Are you looking for me?"
In the ink-black night, a voice seemed to echo right next to Batman's ear.
Confused thoughts flooded his mind.
The raised finger and the gesture of the gun.
The torturous environment of the maze.
All the unbearable, painful, and distressing memories rudely surged into Batman's brain.
Breathe, breathe. Batman constantly adjusted his breathing to stay calm.
He turned his head to look behind him, as if the night sky was also cheering for this fight: a dull thunderclap exploded under the night, followed by a string of blue lightning illuminating the night.
Batman saw it clearly: a figure wearing an owl mask in the nearby dense forest.
Why was he here?
Was he hiding in this town?
Various speculations flooded Batman's mind, but he quickly dismissed them. There was another possibility: the guy had been watching him, following him to this town.
A white mask paired with a crisp white suit. The figure, over two meters tall, couldn't be ignored even while standing quietly in the corner.
"Rumble!"
After the lightning, came wind and rain.
The pouring rain was like a curtain, cascading downwards.
Nourishing the earth, nurturing all things.
Raindrops hit Batman's armor, making a "tick-tock" sound on his steel arms.
The eyes beneath the mask were fixed on the figure in the rain.
It was a strange sight, like Moses parting the Red Sea; the raindrops around him scattered, as if bowing before a king.
There wasn't a single water stain on the white suit.
The masked man tilted his head slightly and chuckled, "Have you found the truth behind your Parents' deaths, Batman?"
The simple question was like a sharp arrow piercing Batman's hardened heart.
His composure shattered, rage consuming his reason. Batman released Clark, whose face was flushed from the beating, and stood up angrily. He glared at the masked man, his voice laced with a hint of a growl: "What do you know about their deaths!"
Batman was struggling to suppress his fury, but Gino, hidden beneath the mask, could see Batman's emotions clearly.
If there was anything that could unsettle Batman, it was undoubtedly the death of his Parents.
In some comics, Batman has deployed tactics against different superheroes. Regarding himself, the tactic is: "Exploit the death of his Parents to disrupt his mind to the fullest extent."
Judging by the current effect, it's been remarkably effective.
A cold laugh echoed from beneath the mask. Gino shook his head slightly, wagging a finger. "I remember telling you, I'd make you stronger next time, Batman."
"But..."
The masked figure looked at the wrecked armor in the corner with a hint of pity, as if genuinely regretting Batman's situation. "Look at what you've built? A pile of scrap metal, and you're struggling to even beat a young kid."
Gino couldn't even imagine Batman in this state running into the Joker at his peak. It would be a terrifying disaster.
"Fuck you!" Clark, his eyes bloodshot, scrambled to his feet. He glared at Batman, but the sudden appearance of the mysterious figure shifted Clark's current anger. He roared at the masked man, "I haven't been defeated!"
"It's you, you coward, hiding your face."
Clark clenched his fists, the terrifying power shaking the rain: "I'll smash your mask and reveal your identity!"
Gino extended his palm, looking up at the raindrops splashing beautifully on his Bio-Field: "Really? Then prove you have the strength."
In the rain, Gino's casual and languid posture successfully angered Clark.
A teenager in his teens was at that age where they cared about face and wanted to be a hero; Clark roared.
His legs exerted force, shattering the ground beneath his feet and leaving two cracked mud pits.
The terrifying inertia propelled Clark like a bolt of lightning towards the masked man.
The heavy rain was also split apart by the speed, splashing everywhere.
Because of the speed, the surrounding scenery even seemed to flow backward like a screen; Clark raised his iron fist, concentrating his power on his knuckles, aiming at the mask on the suit-wearing man's face, vowing to smash his facade.
The hundred-meter distance was covered in an instant. Just as Clark's fist was about to connect with the mask in a fraction of a second, the mysterious person raised a hand and snapped their fingers.
"Snap～"
The friction between their thumb and middle finger created a resonant cavity, and the crisp sound of the snap echoed through the night.
The next moment, Clark opened his mouth in surprise. He saw everything around him slowing down, becoming sluggish.
Raindrops suspended in mid-air,
and his rapidly running body seemed to sink into a heavy swamp, moving slowly.
If Clark's previous running speed was compared to lightning, then he was now even slower than a turtle.
Clark realized a helpless reality: he could only move his eyeballs.
He saw the mysterious person simply step back, evading his attack.
Immediately, the person raised their hand, the thumb gently pressing against the middle finger's nail, slightly bent.
"Pop!"
A loud flick landed on Clark's forehead.
One second, two seconds.
When time passed to the third second, the immense force accumulated on the middle finger erupted.
"BOOM!"
Like a golf ball struck by a club, the robust Clark, like a golf ball, soared through the sky in a graceful arc before crashing heavily to the ground, sending up a large cloud of mud and dust.
Gino lowered his hand, and the time and space that had nearly come to a standstill flowed once more.
"Rumble～"
Rain lashed down, accompanied by thunder and lightning.
Everything seemed to have returned to normal, but in Batman's eyes, Clark had vanished in an instant, only to reappear, smashing a deep crater into the earth.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
A series of coughs echoed from the crater, followed by an arm slowly reaching out.
Covered in mud, Clark, looking utterly bedraggled, crawled out of the hole as if he'd been fished out of concrete.
His handsome face was smeared with mud, and his once-expensive clothes were filthy.
His emerald eyes blazed with boundless fury.
From the moment he was born, Clark's Parents had always warned him to be careful with his abilities, to avoid hurting others.
Clark also felt troubled by his difference from others.
But amidst the trouble, there was also a hint of pride and arrogance in his heart.
He was stronger than ordinary people; he could do things that ordinary people couldn't.
Deep down, Clark always thought of himself as the best.
Until, the white-masked man standing in the rain shattered his pride with a flick of his finger.
It turned out that there was someone truly stronger than him.
But, despite realizing his shortcomings, anger still drove Clark to act.
"You will pay for this!"
Clark's eyes glowed red, the intense heat around them instantly melting the mud, turning it into dry, hardened clumps.
The masked man sneered, "Oh, I'm so scared."
Batman had retreated to a corner, silently observing the two, gathering information.
"Die!" Clark didn't waste any more words, unleashing his newly mastered, furious Heat Vision, the terrifying heat blasting towards the mysterious figure.
"Is that all you've got?"
The mysterious figure tilted his head slightly, and then, the eyes beneath the mask slowly lit up with an ice-blue glow, reflecting the colorful light in the raindrops.
The battle was about to begin.
-----------------------
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